Bottom discharge bucket



Oct. 14, 1958 D. B. WEAVER BOTTOM DISCHARGE BUCKET Filed March 30, 1955 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent O BOTTOM DISCHARGE BUCKET Application March 30, 1955, Serial No. 497,968 r i 2 Claims. (Cl. 294-71) This invention relates generally tobuckets such as areused for handling wet concrete mixes.

Conventional concrete buckets such as are used for transporting and discharging batches of concrete, employ gates movable for a dumping or discharging operation. Manually operated means for moving the gates is generally unsatisfactory because it requires the presence of an attendant near the bucket, and because of the manual effort required. Remote control operators, such as pneumatic or hydraulic pistons, have been used with some success to avoid manual operation, but they have required the use of objectionable fluid connections to the point of control, and in many instances have not permitted proper control over the discharge operation.

In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide a concrete bucket having an improved discharge means which avoids objectionable features of conventional buckets.

Another object of the invention is to provide a concrete bucket having novel means for operating the dumping gates which permits remote control without objectionable hydraulic or pneumatic connections.

Another object of the invention is to provide a concrete bucket which is operated entirely by means of hoist lines.

Further objects and features of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a concrete bucket embodying the present invention, with the gates shown in closed position.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the concrete bucket shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view similar to the side elevational view of Figure 1 but showing the gates in open position.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The device illustrated in the drawing consists of a bucket 11 having an upper open end 12 to receive material from batching equipment, and a lower open end 13 for the discharge of the material. The lower end is provided with a pair of gates 14, which are mounted for movements in opposite directions between open and closed positions. Preferably, each gate is formed with a curvature corresponding generally to a segment of a cylinder, or, in other words, the gates are clam shellshaped.

Arms 15 are attached to the ends of the gates, and these arms in turn are fixed to the hollow shafts 16. The shafts 16 are journaled upon fixed stud shafts 17 which are suitably mounted upon the sides of the bucket. Gear segments 18 are formed on the arms and engage between the centers of the shafts 16, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, whereby the gates are caused to move in unison between closed and open positions.

2,856,223 Patented Oct. 14, 1958 At each side of the bucket, an operating arm 19 is attached to one of the shafts 16. These arms are operatively attached to the lower ends of the reciprocating pull bars 21, by the links 22. The pull bars are slidably housed within guideways 23 that are attached to the sides of the bucket.

At the upper end of the bucketthe bars 21 are interconnected by a yoke-like member or beam 24, which is adapted for connection with the hoist line 25. A deadend member 26 is mounted on the yoke member 24 (Figure l), and is adapted to be connected to the main hoist line 27. The direction of pull of the main hoist line 27 is reversed by a pulley 28. This pulley is carried by the main part of the bucket and is shown journaled upon a shaft 29, which in turn is carried by the structural steel members 31 that are attached at their outer ends to the side walls of the bucket.

Operation of the device may now be briefly described as follows: Let it be assumed that hoist lines 25 and 27 are connected to a suitable derrick or crane in which each of the hoist lines are wound upon separate drums which can be independently operated.

When gates 14 are in closed position, as shown in Figure 1, the weight of the concrete bucket 11 is carried by main hoist line 27, and the bucket can be filled with concrete mix and hoisted and moved to any position desired merely by continuing to carry the weight of the bucket 11 on hoist line 27.

When it is desired to dump or empty the concrete mix from bucket 11, gates 14 are opened by shifting the weight of bucket 11 from line 27 to line 25 as by operating the hoist drum for line 25 until the weight of the bucket is carried by line 25.

Shifting the weight of bucket 11 to line 25 causes upward movement of yoke-like member 24 and pull bars 22. Upward movement of pull bars 21 opens gates 14 by movement of operating arms 19 to the position shown in Figure 3.

When it is desired to close gates 14, it is merely necessary to shift the weight of the bucket to line 27 which causes downward movement of yoke-like member 24 to bring the operating arms 19 to the position shown in Figure 1. Pulley 28 reverses the direction of pull of line 27 and causes downward movement of yoke-like member 24 even though the concrete bucket 11 is being lifted by line 27.

It is apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a new and improved bucket for transporting and discharging batches of concrete mix in that simplified control means have been provided for opening and] closing the gates on the bucket. By using two hoist lines to operate the concrete bucket, the entire bucket operation can be controlled by one operator on the crane, derrick, or other hoisting and transport means employed. No air hose fitings or the like need be attached to the bucket for operation of the gates. The bucket is particularly adapted for use underwater Where air controls and hoses would be difficult to maintain.

I claim:

1. In a bucket apparatus, a bucket having an opening for receiving material and a lower discharge opening, gate means mounted on the lower portion of said bucket and movable between open and closed positions with respect to the discharge opening, gate operating means mounted on said bucket and connected to the gate means whereby upon movement of said gate operating means in an upward direction said gate means is moved towards an open position and upon movement of gate operating means in a downward direction said gate means is moved towards a closed position, first and second hoist lines connected to said gate operating means, and means mounted on said bucket for reversing the direction of pull of said second wi hoist line on said gate operating means whereby when the weight of the bucket is shifted between said hoist lines, said gate means is positively moved between open and closed positions.

2. In a bucket apparatus, a bucket having an opening,

for receiving material and a lower discharge opening, gate means pivotally mounted on the lower portion of the bucket and movable between open and closed positions with respect to the discharge opening, a beam extending across the upper end of the bucket, pull bars slidably mounted on opposite sides of said bucket and having their upper ends connected to said beam, lever means connecting the lower end of said pull bars to said gate means whereby upon downward movement of said beam and the pull bars connected thereto said gate means is positively moved towards a closed position and upon upward movement of the beam and the pull bars attached thereto the. gate means is positively moved towards an openposition,

first and second hoist lines secured to said beam for carrying said bucket, a pulley mounted on the upper end of said bucket below said beam, said second hoist line being reeved about said pulley to reverse the direction of pull of said second hoist line on said beam from the direction of pull by the first hoist line upon said beam whereby as the weight of the bucket is shifted between the first and second hoist lines, said gate means is positively moved between open and vclosed positions;

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

